Windy, warmer Tuesday. Cold and snow incoming
Thursday will bring the first of a few potential snowfalls
Updated 9 a.m.
Tuesday will be windy and briefly warmer. Those blustery northwest winds are bringing colder air back along with snow developing Thursday and this weekend.
Warmer and windy Tuesday before temperatures drop again
We’re in for a briefly warmer day Tuesday, at least across southern Minnesota. Highs will be back above normal, mostly in the 40s with some low 50s in southwest Minnesota, while it will be colder north.
Blustery northwest winds are already bringing in colder air. Winds will be up to 15 to 30 mph.
Tuesday night will be colder with lows falling into the single digits and teens.
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Wind chill values early Wednesday will be frigid, ranging from the single digits above zero in southern Minnesota to the teens below zero north.
Highs Wednesday will be back below normal in the 20s and low 30s.
Snow develops Thursday into the weekend
The colder pattern will help set the stage for a snowy pattern. The first system moves through Thursday into Thursday night.
A wide swath of snowfall accumulation will affect much of Minnesota. The official forecast from the National Weather Service calls for 3 to 6 inches across central and southeast Minnesota.
The models do vary in track and intensity, however. One concern is if thunderstorms in Iowa rob us of some moisture, but ratios of snow to water could also be higher than normal for this time of year, pushing totals up, too.
Another round of potentially more-significant snow and a mix of precipitation is possible over the weekend. Heavy snow could develop Saturday night into Sunday and Monday, lingering into Tuesday. Temperatures could get warm enough for rain and sleet to mix in across southeast Minnesota, even into the Twin Cities at times late Sunday, complicating snowfall forecasts.
Regardless, we’re watching for this second system to potentially deliver a very heavy punch of wet snow. Most of the models produce at least a foot of snow with this system, but differ on where that will happen.
Temperatures also remain below normal into next week.